System Configuration

During an installation or upgrade, your system is set up and configured based on the values you specify as a part of those processes. At various times after an installation or upgrade, you may need to reconfigure your system. Oracle E-Business Suite employs several utilities to aid you with this task. This chapter contains the following information about configuration utilities:

About System Configuration

During a new installation or an existing system upgrade, you define the configuration of your system by supplying information such as:

Database type

Database SID

Domain name

Top-level directories

Licensing type

Country-specific functionalities

Internationalization settings

Applications node services

These values are propagated to the individual system configuration files, and also stored in a central repository file called a context.

Your system configuration can be changed as needed by using one of several utilities designed to report on and manage the configuration information. Some of these utilities are accessed from the command line and some are Web-based.

Web-Based Configuration Utilities

The following utilities are Web-based. You access them through Oracle Applications Manager (OAM).

AutoConfig

System configuration parameters are stored and managed by AutoConfig. It is the main configuration engine used by Rapid Install, which supplies configuration information to AutoConfig, which, in turn, stores the configuration for each system node in a node-specific configuration file call a context file.

You can also use AutoConfig independently of a Rapid Install operation to view and edit the individual configuration parameters that define your system. At any time after the initial installation, you use the Configuration Editor in Oracle Applications Manager to update various system settings.

Note: For more information, see AutoConfig in Oracle E-Business Suite Concepts.

License Manager

Products, country-specific functionalities (localized products), and languages that you license or begin to use after the initial installation must be registered as active in order to be included in various system maintenance tasks. Using License Manager, you can create reports about currently registered products and register additional products, country-specific functionalities (localized products).

Note: For more information, see License Manager in Oracle E-Business Suite System Administrator’s Guide - Maintenance.

Command Line Configuration Utilities

These AD utilities are run from the command line. They are more fully described later in this chapter.

AD Splicer

Splicing refers to the process of adding a product that was not included in a base release to the products in an existing system. AD Splicer modifies the APPL_TOP and database so that AutoPatch and AD Administration recognize the product as valid.

AD Splicer

AD Splicer performs the same product registration function as License Manager. However, it registers off-cycle products (those that are released between release update packs) as active in your system. This process of "splicing" modifies the APPL_TOP and database so that AutoPatch and AD Administration recognize the off-cycle product as a valid product for a specific release.

Note: You cannot use AD Splicer to add custom products.

Patches that contain off-cycle products also contain the control files that AD Splicer needs to register the product. The patch also contains a readme file that describes how to install the new product(s).

AD Splicer Control Files

There are two kinds of AD Splicer control files: product definition and product configuration. You must customize the product configuration file, then copy it and the product definition file to APPL_TOP/admin before you run AD Splicer.

Product Definition Files

There are two product definition files per spliced product: <prod>prod.txt and <prod>terr.txt. These files define the product and the associated language information and must not be edited. For example, the product definition files for Oracle Sales Analyzer (zsa) are zsaprod.txt and zsaterr.txt.

Product Configuration

The newprods.txt file acts as a template to define necessary parameters for a spliced product.

The following is an example of the product configuration file for Oracle Sales Analyzer (zsa):

You may need to edit some of the values for the parameters in this file. Refer to the following table for more information. Do not change the order of the entries in the product configuration file: they must appear exactly as shown in the example.

Product Configuration Parameters

Parameter

Description

product=

Do not edit this entry. The product abbreviation <prod> is already set, and must match the <prod>prod.txt and <prod>terr.txt control files for this product. Most internal references use <prod>.

base_product_top=

Identifies the base directory that contains the product's files. The default value, APPL_TOP, means the product's files are written in the directory your APPL_TOP environment is set to. If you want to write the product files to another directory, replace the APPL_TOP value with the full directory path.

oracle_schema=

Identifies the Oracle schema where database objects for the product are created. The default Oracle schema is the same as the product abbreviation. You can change this if you want to put the product's database objects in a different schema. Moving a product's objects from one schema to another involves export/import and updates to internal Oracle E-Business Suite tables, so choose your initial schema carefully.

sizing_factor=

Identifies the sizing factor Oracle E-Business Suite uses when creating tables and indexes for this product. The default value of 100 means 100%. The product's tables and indexes are created with the default sizes determined by Oracle. We recommend you accept the default sizing factor.

Tablespaces

Release 12 uses the Oracle Applications Tablespace Model (OATM), so you do not need to supply AD Splicer with parameters for identifying tablespaces.

Note: For more information, see Tablespace Management in Oracle E-Business Suite Concepts.

The AD Splicer Interface

AD Splicer is a command line utility. It does not use menus or input screens.

Running AD Splicer Interactively

All the steps necessary to prepare for using this utility are described in Adding Off-cycle Products in Oracle E-Business Suite Maintenance Procedures. When instructed to do so, run AD Splicer as follows:

Set the environment.

You must set the environment in order to apply the environment variables that define your system. This task is common to many AD utilities. See Setting the Environment in Chapter 1 for the basic steps.

-restart - Tells AD Splice to restart from where it left off. Valid values are y or n.

-abandon - Used to abandon a previous failed session or continue with the session. Valid values are y or n (abandon or continue, respectively).

-stdin - If this parameter is specified, AD Splice prompts for passwords from the standard input. The default is for passwords to be supplied without prompting.

File Character Set Converter

The File Character Set Converter converts individual files, one at a time, from one character set to another. You may need to perform this task to convert text files you receive from Oracle to the character set used by your system. For example, you might need to convert SQL*Plus scripts, PL/SQL scripts, loader files, driver files, ODF files, header files, or HTML files.

Tip: In general, you do not need to run File Character Set Converter manually. AD Administration, AutoPatch, and Rapid Install will normally perform any required character set conversion automatically.

Required Parameters

The following parameters are used when running the converter.

File Character Set Converter Parameters

Parameter

Definition

source_file

Path and file name for the (source) file to be converted.

source_char_set

Character set for the file to be converted (source).

destination_file

Path and file name for the (destination) file after it is converted.

dest_char_set

Character set for the converted (destination) file.

The File Character Set Converter Interface

The File Character Set Converter is a command line utility. It does not use menus or input screens.

Running the File Character Set Converter

To run this utility, perform these steps:

Set the environment.

You must set the environment in order to apply the environment variables that define your system. This task is common to many AD utilities. See Setting the Environment in Chapter 1 for the basic steps.

The path and file name for the source and the destination files can be the same if the source file’s directory and the APPLTMP directory are on the same file system. In general, it is simpler and safer to use different source and destination file names.

Tip: If you cannot convert to the same file name, convert to a different file name, or change APPLTMP to a directory on the same file system as the source file directory.

For example, to convert the file afdict.ldt from the WE8ISO8859P1 character set to the UTF8 character set, you would enter commands as shown in this example: